Southwest Airlines Plans Iceland Flights As Of 2026: What’s The Play?

Southwest Airlines Plans Iceland Flights As Of 2026: What’s The Play?

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It goes without saying that a lot has changed about Southwest Airlines in recent times. Under financial pressure from activist investors, the airline has started charging for checked bags, has introduced basic economy, and is introducing assigned and extra legroom seating.

It looks like we could soon see a major change to the type of flying that the Dallas-based airline does, as flights to Iceland are reportedly imminent.

Southwest expected to launch Iceland service

Enilria reports how Southwest is planning to launch flights to Keflavik, Iceland (KEF), as of the spring of 2026. Currently a May 2026 launch seems most likely, with the first route expected to be out of Baltimore (BWI), which is a major hub for the airline. At 2,762 miles, this route would be well within range for the Boeing 737 MAX 8. Flights are reportedly expected to go on sale as of the fall of 2025, assuming everything can be finalized by then.

Southwest is expected to fly from Baltimore to Keflavik

While Southwest currently operates a limited number of international flights, this would be the carrier’s first service to Europe, so it would obviously be a major development for Southwest.

Admittedly Southwest is limited in terms of its potential to fly to Europe, at least with its current fleet. Sure, some Ireland service might be possible with existing aircraft, but don’t expect the 737 MAX to be flying to Continental Europe anytime soon. Then again, Southwest executives have said that nothing is off the table, from long haul flying, to first class, to lounges, so who knows how this evolves.

As part of its transformation, Southwest recently started introducing airline partnerships, with the first partner carrier being with Icelandair. For now, this is a really casual partnership, which just consists of an interline partnership. We know the two airlines want to work more closely together, so in that sense, having Iceland as the first destination is pretty logical.

Southwest & Icelandair recently started partnering

Southwest’s hidden motive for flying to Iceland

On the surface, Southwest flying to Icelandair is unlikely to be terribly profitable. This just comes down to the competitive landscape — Icelandair operates to all kinds of points in the United States year-round, with impressive frequencies, and the carrier has a much lower cost structure than Southwest. So, why would Southwest actually fly to Iceland? Well, it comes down to a couple of factors.

For one, we know that Southwest wants to develop a codeshare agreement and offer reciprocal loyalty perks with Icelandair, which would be a closer level of cooperation than the interline agreement that the two airlines currently have. Southwest has strong labor unions, and in order to allow the airlines to codeshare, pilots are reportedly requiring that Southwest also fly its own metal to Iceland. This isn’t that unusual in the industry, since of course pilots want to look out for their own jobs.

The second point is equally big. Southwest is no longer differentiated domestically, in the same way it used to be. The airline has basically eliminated everything that made it special, instead copying the competition. So the airline needs to find other ways to attract customers and keep them loyal.

Obviously loyalty programs are a huge motivator for airline service nowadays, so it seems highly likely that this would also be part of making Rapid Rewards more lucrative, to increase the ways that members can redeem Rapid Rewards points. After all, Southwest hasn’t historically offered redemption opportunities on partner airlines.

I have to imagine that as Southwest and Icelandair partner together more closely, we’ll see a huge emphasis on enabling award redemptions on Icelandair, so that Rapid Rewards members can travel to all over Europe. This will probably be easy enough to implement, since Rapid Rewards is revenue based, and that same principle can apply for Icelandair redemptions.

Honestly, close cooperation between Southwest and Icelandair could also be a game changer for Icelandair, if they’re getting a significant number of Rapid Rewards customers on their flights (both among those paying cash and those redeeming points).

There’s big upside for Icelandair as well

Bottom line

While plans could still change, Southwest Airlines is reportedly pursuing launching flights to Iceland as of the spring of 2026, with the first route being from Baltimore to Keflavik. This is something that would’ve likely seemed unthinkable several years ago.

The route is unlikely to directly be that profitable, so the logic here is quite simple. Southwest wants to develop a closer partnership with Icelandair, and pilots are requiring that the airline be able to fly its own metal to Iceland. Furthermore, being able to offer points earning and redemption opportunities to destinations across Europe could make Rapid Rewards much more interesting to people.

What do you make of the prospect of Southwest flying to Iceland?

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  1. Alec Gold

    Too bad Iceland air doesn’t haven’t any evening banks to Europe. Southwest could offer a morning daytime flight to KEF and give people an option of getting to Europe without a redeye or without flying the 1-2 BA/AA flights from JFK to LHR.

    Although this will prob target more price conscious people who don’t want to pay an extra hotel night but that day time flight to London is my favorite, best way to avoid jet lag.

  2. simmonad Guest

    How can Icelandair have a lower cost structure than WN? Iceland is notorious for its high cost of living.

  3. S_LEE Diamond

    With no oven onboard and limited galley capacity, WN cannot offer any hot meal or substantial cold meal. The experience will be waaaay worse than Icelandair..

    1. vbscript2 Guest

      No meal is included in economy on Icelandair, either, though they do have them available for purchase.

    2. S_LEE Diamond

      Yeap, that's a huge difference. At least you can buy substantial meal on Icelandair, but you can never on Southwest.
      Also, Icelandair has IFE screens on all of their aircrafts. I personally don't care about screens but many people do.

  4. Justsaying Guest

    I don’t see it working long term. Southwest should stick to what they are good at and known for.

    1. T Jay Guest

      They're already well beyond that. Question is, are they beyond the point of no return.

    2. bossa Guest

      Agreed, sadly, "That 'train' has aready left the station !" ... Uh.. I meant aircraft / airport !

  5. Homer The Greek Guest

    I pray Elliot takes a huge haircut on this Southwest misadventure.

    1. bossa Guest

      Don't hold your breath ... They're too clever (shrewd) to be so ignorant in their pillaging...

  6. CHRIS Guest

    So they can figure out how to accept ISK but can't for CAD?

  7. Brian W Guest

    Why not just serve Canadian cities first?

    1. Nate Guest

      I had the same thought. Why does SW hate Canada?

      Also surprised SW isn’t trying to make a play for the Caribbean and beat out AA. Perhaps it doesn’t have a hub that could work.

    2. vbscript2 Guest

      Southwest flies to 13 different Central America or Caribbean destinations already. They've been doing Caribbean flights for over a decade now.

    3. NateNate Guest

      You know American flies to 43 destinations in the Caribbean alone, right? SWA just 7.

      There is a number between 7 and 43 of destinations that can support a 737. Probably 10 more at least. Makes more sense than Iceland.

      Canada and expanded service to Mexico and Central America also make sense.

    4. bossa Guest

      That might have been a logical strategy before last January... Maybe revisit it after 4 years !

    1. bossa Guest

      @ Kay..Elemeno (PEE)
      Thanks to those 2 Icelandic carriers for making our lives so "breEZy" & entertaining !

    2. Brian W Guest

      That is a lot of JetA to burn to get to Iceland. The ticket price will need to be high enough to cover the fuel and utilizing an aircraft on a 7 hour segment instead of doing 2 or 3 flights within the US/Caribbean/Mexico instead. I would think adding Canada cities which have better demand and would be closer to a lot of their hubs.

    3. James K. Guest

      I mean, is BWI-KEF that different from LAS-KOA?

    4. bossa Guest

      Maybe not in flight length, but most certainly in year round demand, I'd imagine ,...

  8. Fordamist LeDearn Guest

    SW hired my secretary while still trying to get off the ground, I've been a fan/flier ever since. I'm not interested in flying SW S of the Rio Grande or W of California. I've been to Iceland on business, see one Blue Lagoon, you seen 'em all. SW is an easy way to get around the US. Elliott intends to destroy it, suck all its assets into higher stock prices, let the shell go into...

    SW hired my secretary while still trying to get off the ground, I've been a fan/flier ever since. I'm not interested in flying SW S of the Rio Grande or W of California. I've been to Iceland on business, see one Blue Lagoon, you seen 'em all. SW is an easy way to get around the US. Elliott intends to destroy it, suck all its assets into higher stock prices, let the shell go into Chapter 11. Most likely DL will buy it, cheap. For international trips I fly to ATL to avoid flying AA. Secretary retired as a multi-multi-multi Millionaire. Doubt there'll be many more from current employees, except top management. Elliott will see to that.

    1. bossa Guest

      What a sad story for a legendary airline with a proud history.,,,

  9. bossa Guest

    Great job on the title of this post, a cute 'PLAY' on words ! ...lol
    Maybe if WN offers dirt cheap fares/redemptions, pax will be willing to endure a domestic as well as an international connection to get across the pond on aircraft with ill equipped galleys & sub-par 'amenities' / service...Although pax already tolerate it to the Hawaiian 'paradise' ..
    And based on their track record, anything management states will shortly be...

    Great job on the title of this post, a cute 'PLAY' on words ! ...lol
    Maybe if WN offers dirt cheap fares/redemptions, pax will be willing to endure a domestic as well as an international connection to get across the pond on aircraft with ill equipped galleys & sub-par 'amenities' / service...Although pax already tolerate it to the Hawaiian 'paradise' ..
    And based on their track record, anything management states will shortly be reversed. Sadly, WN's credibility has nose dived along with their customer service...,,,

    1. FMBWI Gold

      Love the Play on words!

      As to your point about subpar inflight experience, which I agree with, it's also worth remembering that BWI-KEF is about the same length of time as LAX-BOS, and similar to HNL-LAX. WN is probably correct that pax will be able to deal with six hours. I kind of doubt they'd tolerate it on, for example, BWI-FRA. Those extra two hours make quite a difference.

  10. Brian G. Diamond

    I'll buy a drink for the first person to have a successful EU261 claim from Southwest.

    1. Santos Guest

      Hey, I've made four unsuccessful to LH over the years; anything is possible!

  11. jim Guest

    United flew Newark to Nuuk first time today

  12. James K. Guest

    I don't think there's anything particularly "hidden" about this motive, as I believe it came up in a recent interview with a Southwest executive. United was similarly open about their route expansion being partially motivated by a desire to increase possibilities for MileagePlus members/credit card users.

    This is something I view as a win-win. As frequent travelers, we want our airlines to go to more places so that our miles go further. I was trying...

    I don't think there's anything particularly "hidden" about this motive, as I believe it came up in a recent interview with a Southwest executive. United was similarly open about their route expansion being partially motivated by a desire to increase possibilities for MileagePlus members/credit card users.

    This is something I view as a win-win. As frequent travelers, we want our airlines to go to more places so that our miles go further. I was trying to help my mother, who has 1,000,000 American miles, get an award to Vietnam and it was sad having to tell her that AA just flies to Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai (and JAL space is a mysterious beast). I'm based in BWI. I like the idea of Southwest flying to Iceland - why wouldn't I? Potentially opens up more possibilities. If it benefits the WN pilots and Chase bottom line as well, so much the better

    1. Ezawa Tami Guest

      Your best bets are IAD-AUH-HAN and IAD-DOH-HAN with AA miles. KEF does not get you anywhere, nor could AA miles be used on WN.

    2. James K. Guest

      Sorry those were two separate thoughts - apologies if my distinction wasn't clear.

      My point was just that MORE destinations is good. If AA had more destinations it would be good for my mother as it would get her to Vietnam. As a MD native, Southwest having more options is good. More destinations is always good!

      But IAD-DOH-HAN is a laugh. AA having TATL award space in J on Qatar is a unicorn these days

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James K. Guest

I mean, is BWI-KEF that different from LAS-KOA?

1
bossa Guest

Great job on the title of this post, a cute 'PLAY' on words ! ...lol Maybe if WN offers dirt cheap fares/redemptions, pax will be willing to endure a domestic as well as an international connection to get across the pond on aircraft with ill equipped galleys & sub-par 'amenities' / service...Although pax already tolerate it to the Hawaiian 'paradise' .. And based on their track record, anything management states will shortly be reversed. Sadly, WN's credibility has nose dived along with their customer service...,,,

1
Brian G. Diamond

I'll buy a drink for the first person to have a successful EU261 claim from Southwest.

1
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